A Year in Review: The Barker Institute in 2022

Dr Matthew Hill Director of the Barker Institute

In the contemporary world there is an overabundance of data points such that the challenge of research is perhaps less about collecting the data, and more about being selective about how it is stored, categorised, used, and made sense of. In the same way, for the individual teacher, there is an overwhelming amount of academic research that exists on education which needs to be curated and distilled for practical use. Similarly, at a school like Barker, the extensively rich intellectual resources of the teaching and non-teaching staff (and arguably even the students, parents, and alumni) are to be strategically aligned to serve the community.

And this is the mission of the Barker Institute. The Barker Institute provides consultation advice on the use of data in the School, supports staff, students and parents connecting to expertise and academic literature from outside the School. Perhaps most importantly, it seeks to provide the structures for the rich intellectual resources within Barker College to be used to facilitate learning and growth through the School and the wider community. A theme of this year has been establishing the structures to allow for collective contributions to both pressing issues at Barker and the global education narrative through establishing and publishing the 2022-2023 Barker Institute Research Agenda, and producing a website designed to inspire and collate various writing, thinking and research around five key domains. The Barker Institute looks forward to ongoing collaboration in 2023.

Highlights of 2022 In-person events After two years of typically online events due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was a privilege to welcome parents and the community back on campus for face-to-face events. Finally, it was together that we laughed with Dr Jared Cooney Horvarth when he accurately recounted tricky conversations we had with the teenagers in our lives only the night before, we transformed our own abilities to write with Dr Ian Hunter’s toolbox of tips and we tinkered with circuits at the event celebrating Women and Girls in Science. Personally, it was a delight to see the faces from two years ago who have continued to be committed to learning

together with me at Barker Institute events. Here, I would like publicly to thank my colleague, Susan Layton, for her work which facilitated these on-campus events.

The Barker Journey study reaches a milestone with the class of 2028 coming to the end of their Junior School journey

The Barker Journey is a decade-long study that was first conducted in 2008-2017. It is now being repeated with the students who commenced Year 3 in 2019 as the first coeducational Year 3 cohort at Barker. This year was the fourth year, or the final Junior School year, of interviewing and surveying these wonderful students to listen to the student voice on what this coming generation seeks for their education and how they perceive the Barker experience.

It has been a tough time to be a student (or a global citizen) over the last few years and these students’ stories of resilience are to be celebrated. Their insights into education are profound and it has been a privilege that the Barker Institute has been able to capture their voices in this study. The period of learning from home only reinforced the importance of relationships in learning and the school experience, but I strongly encourage you to read more of this study and the implications for educating Generation Alpha in the following articles in this Journal. You will not be disappointed.

The findings of the first four years of this study were also presented at the 2022 National Conference for the Australian Association of Research In Education and will be shared in a variety of formats locally and internationally in 2023.

T The publication of the first Barker Institute Research Agenda Five research domains were defined to draw together existing research activities at Barker College and to direct ongoing research into areas of importance to Barker and the education community more broadly. After a thorough consultation process with stakeholders in the school the first Barker Institute Research Agenda was published articulating the purpose of research at Barker, the values of research at Barker, and the domains of research at Barker which include Coeducation, Indigenous education, Character & Enterprise education, Intercultural education, and Future & Innovation. These domains, along with the Flagship Project of The Barker Journey, define the priorities of research in the Barker community and allow for individual staff researchers and thinkers to have a collective influence in these areas. The Research Agenda was widely appreciated by my counterparts at other schools especially those seeking to establish their own research institutes and agendas. Along with many other obvious research activities (this edition of the Journal being one of them) it was contributions to this Research Agenda that I particularly want to thank my colleague, Dr Timothy Scott. Without him, this would have not been a reality.

One of the first steps to implement the Research Agenda was to present a platform that would collect the output of the rich intellectual resources of Barker so that it may be of use. I am delighted with our new website and how, through the five research domains, it shares this output in and beyond Barker. I thank my colleague, Tim Miller, for advice and resourcing the Barker Institute in many ways, but especially regarding the website, that this may be a blessing now and into the future.

Barker is a community of thinkers who use data well Young people are the first to reject argument from authority and are astute observers of the world around them. Rather than assuming what works, Barker is a community who seek to collect, analyse, and apply data to make evidence-informed conclusions and decisions. Our primary students are disposed, under the PYP learner profile, to be thinking inquirers. The Year 6 exhibition was testament to the thoughtful processes these students followed in the production of these major works. Similarly, our student leaders seek to meet the needs of the School by listening to their peers rather than assuming what must be done.

Barker is committed to using data to review, improve and inform processes and decision making. Regular surveying and interviews occur small scale (through the House and pastoral system with approaches to learning and progressive reporting data collated and available to Heads of House) and large scale through the school. Academic progress is tracked, and wellbeing is monitored, especially in response to recognised pressures and strategic interventions.

The Barker Institute has provided consultation services to individual teachers and leaders throughout the School as they seek to collect data and make evidence-informed decisions. It has also conducted reviews on behalf of the School in areas of student and staff wellbeing, professional learning and pastoral structures. Using existing data well is an ongoing priority for Barker and The Barker Institute.

Barker is a community of learners who engage with external expertise and academic literature

A community of learners at Barker Institute Events Barker Institute events start from the point that all are learners. The Barker Institute Prayer and a Barker Institute Acknowledgment of Country is read to ensure a context of community in learning. This is important. For to train students as learners, teachers themselves must model what it is to be expert learners. A range of events were held in 2023 to allow parents, teachers and students (often at the same time) to participate in life-long, voluntary, learning by engaging with internal and external expertise.

Some events particularly targeted teachers and parents. Complementing a session for Barker Staff during the day, friend of the Barker Institute, Dr Jared Cooney Horvarth, presented to students and parents A tour through the changing teen brain. To connect messages to students and parents, Dr Ian Hunter presented on his program The Writer’s Toolbox which is used extensively at Barker, and sleep expert Lisa Maltman delivered sessions to students during the day and parents and community in the evening on Sleep for better health, resilience, and performance.

Four learning events were designed for the whole community to come together. These included Year 7 Study Habits where I applied academic literature on this subject to the Year 7 Barker context, a student photo exhibition from the Garma Festival entitled Reflections on Garma, a film screening of Where the Water Starts with panel discussion. The fourth event took place in two parts; Barker’s annual Science Extension Public Lectures where my

colleague, Dr Alison Gates, and I presented on the History and Philosophy of Science. The Science Extension lectures were well attended by students, teachers and family members across the greater Sydney region including guests from the Southern Highlands and Central Coast.

Former Head of Barker College, Dr Neil Tucker, returned to share the findings of his recent doctoral research on Educating for Humanity & The Holistic Principle which was appreciated especially by the leadership team at Barker.

A celebration of Women and Girls in Science was held including guest speakers, a panel, and tinkering workshops recognising the outstanding contribution to coeducation in science through the Barker Science and STEAM community.

A A community of learners engaging with academic literature Barker students and staff recognise the immense privilege of highly accessible peerreviewed academic literature in the 21st century. When investigating a topic or making decisions, literature must be consulted and the Barker Institute supports community engagement to that extant research. This is often through collating bibliographies or constructing literature reviews. In 2022, this included literature reviews on academic streaming, training evaluation methods, grit and academic tenacity, belongingness, research methods and student voice.

Barker staff are highly experienced at engaging with literature and the Barker Institute provides a connection point for staff to seek out colleagues who have previously investigated relevant topics to provide literature and advice in collaboration. Examples include connecting the staff who have international teaching experience to those investigating cultural immersion education and intercultural and refugee student transitions, and staff who have already synthesised literature on various topics for Masters of Education courses which are applicable to the Barker context. It is hoped that in 2023 there may be more opportunity for sharing of literature reviews among staff and journal club discussions on various issues relevant to Barker.

Barker is a community of creators which collectively produces research, thinking, and solutions for our world

The Barker Institute is one of the original school-based centres of educational research. Its primary function is to engage in educational research that inspires thought and action, inquires to create new knowledge, informs policy, improves practice, and includes students, educators and academics. Each of these actions involve, but also extend far beyond, the Barker Community. The Barker Institute also provides opportunities for members of the Barker community to contribute to a wider and ongoing dialogue about teaching and learning to drive education forward. It is a learning hub that enables professional learning and support for staff who are seeking to be better teachers, particularly where professional learning involves research-related activities or studies.

One of the important distinctions of the Barker Institute from other educational research centres is that its research takes place in the context of a community whose constituent members are simultaneously experienced educational researchers and experienced educational practitioners. The work of the Barker Institute benefits from a perspective informed by the interplay between understanding of educational research discourse and being in the classroom as a teacher.

There are countless hours of formal and informal research being conducted by staff at Barker. The Barker Institute aims to collate, streamline and disseminate this research so collectively a body of work aligned with the five research domains of the 2022-2023 Research Agenda can be of great value to education in Australia and abroad. Educators are seeking close-to-practice research in coeducation (especially the outcomes and process of changing from mostly a boys’ school to a fully coeducational school), indigenous education, character & enterprise education, intercultural (especially refugee) education, and future and innovation. The Barker staff are creators with research, thinking and solutions to share. Watch this space!

This year the Barker Institute published the sixth edition of the Barker Institute Journal of staff writings, Research in Practice. Thank you to the staff who contributed to the journal. Individual articles and the Journal as a whole can be viewed on the website or in the Barker Institute offices.

It is not only our staff who contribute to research but also Barker’s students. This is most clearly demonstrated through a variety of Year 12 Extension courses that offer capstone experiences where students learn by conducting genuine academic-style research. The Barker Institute is proud to publish the fourth edition of Scientific Research in Schools. This student journal now has 62 academic articles from Year 12 Science research students. It is widely used by the high school science research community in New South Wales. We are proud of our students and the research they have undertaken.

Conclusion

Through 2022, the Barker Institute has taken large steps in achieving its vision of using the rich intellectual resources of Barker to facilitate learning and growth in the school and wider community. Progress centres around the three functions of the Institute as a research hub, learning centre, and publication house. I wish to thank the Barker Institute staff team and all staff and students who have contributed or participated in research at Barker in 2022. I also wish to thank the School Council and the Head of Barker College for continued investment in this worthwhile pursuit.